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Warning! Dr. Oz Can Be Harmful to the Nursing Profession

The far reaching clutches of those demeaning nurse stereotypes never cease to amaze me. This time on the ‘infamous’ Dr. Oz show.

*sigh*

-begin rant-

Dr. Oz is promoted as the new ‘all-things health’ guru. Spawned from his ‘consultation’ on Oprah, he garnered rave reviews. Enough to launch his own show, now in its 2nd year (I think).

I’m not a fan, nor do I watch the show. I have been a fan of his message and his plight. That is, until now.

In the name of ‘health’ and all-things healthy, I’m a huge supporter to losing weight any which way you can. If it works for you, then keep on doing it. I guess this particular guest on his show lost her weight ‘dancing’. I’m not going to dive into the specifics of her weight loss journey and success. I’d rather talk about the off-color tactics that were used on the show, and how good ole’ Dr. Oz didn’t think anything of it. Here it is cited from The Truth About Nursing website:

Today the popular daytime television program The Dr. Oz Show offered viewers an amazingly concentrated package of harmful nursing stereotypes, all wrapped up in a short segment about Angel Williams, who lost 200 pounds by dancing. We’re all for any safe and effective weight loss strategy. But Williams dressed in a regressive short white nurse’s dress, said she was going to "get sexy" and unbuttoned the top of the dress as she prepared to lead Oz in some dancing, and told Oz that she and a group of similarly attired dancers would be "your nurses, we’re gonna keep America moving for you." No doubt the show thought it would be fun to present these women as Oz’s sexy nurse backup dancers–doesn’t every celebrity physician have those? Especially surgeons like Dr. Oz! Unfortunately, this short segment managed to reinforce a slew of stereotypes: the naughty nurse, the low-skilled physician handmaiden, and the idea that nursing is for females living in a past era. And far from looking uncomfortable about these nursing elements, Oz himself twice referred to the dancers as Williams’s "fellow nurses." After Williams told Oz what the "nurses" would do "for" him, Oz responded, "I love it." We don’t. Please tell Dr. Oz that nurses are skilled, autonomous health professionals–despite the Oprah protégé’s multimedia health empire and his position on the Columbia Medical School faculty, it’s not clear that he knows.

Here is a well-known and respected health care professional, a fellow physician colleague, taking part in some of the most heinous and degrading acts of nursing stereotypes. If Dr. Oz can’t stop the stereotyping that’s happening right in front of his face and in front of his audience….

Do you think it will ever be stopped?

Once again – our profession seems to be the butt-ended punch-line of a good joke or vivid fantasy.

The public will never know what we are, and what we provide at this rate. Good ole’ Hollywood-medicine seems to be hell-bent on keeping it that way.

An apology to our profession is in order. We are educated, dedicated, skilled professionals and take issue with this demeaning portrayal.
Dr. Oz should make a formal apology on air to the nursing profession.

Dr. Oz could have easily had a blend of male and female back up and called them,”your trainers” and made a much more positive spin on the goal of being healthy.I am disappointed he too chose to perpetuate a fantasy stereotype of nurses.I am not an autobot servant, but a member of a freestanding profession with skills and my own scope of practice!

Yes! I agree. I have one resident who has dementia that’s progressing from mild to severe and she quotes Dr. Oz to me all the freaking time. I’m not even going to the what doctors think of nurses place…..

I do watch his show from time to time and saw this episode and didn’t think it funny. I’ve been a nurse for 16 years and take my profession seriously. I’ve heard all of the jokes and seen all of the costumes and don’t think it will ever end. You just have to know in your heart that you are a nurse and worth so much more than what is portrayed. Keep your head up!

Thanks for your thoughts Michele. I think all of us nurses feel that way, but I refuse to believe and accept the sub-standard portrayal that Hollywood continues to spit out. It’s one baby-step at a time, but I will continue to move forward. Thanks for visiting!

Nursing is a highly skilled, highly respected career with nurses being serious about her/his job and taking care of patients as a first priority. Professionalism is the proper behavior. Care and compassion and a service to hurting, sick people takes a special person who is not full of foolishness and other careless ideas. Please keep it that way.

I have many nurses in my family, none dress and act like that. None of the nurses I’ve had on L&D ever acted like that in their professional role, and neither has my midwife. I know nurses have personal lives and some may party on their off time, but most are very professional. These stereotypes are part of being a woman…in any profession (think “hot for teacher”). Dr. Oz should not be so sexist!